Brown family lawyers: One of the gunshots that hit him was back-to-front

posted at 1:21 pm on August 18, 2014 by Allahpundit

Big news if true as it seemingly contradicts a key takeaway from Michael Baden’s autopsy, that none of the shots that hit Brown came from the back. As noted in the last post, eyewitness accounts are mixed: Dorian Johnson claims Brown was hit from behind before turning and putting his hands up, an eyewitness who live-tweeted the shooting claims that two shots were fired at his back before Brown turned to face Darren Wilson and was then fired at repeatedly, and a third eyewitness captured on audio claims that Brown initially ran away from Wilson before coming back at him. There’s rough consistency there on Brown’s movements, first fleeing from Wilson and then facing him, but when the shots were fired, which shots hit him, and what Brown was doing when he turned back towards Wilson are uncertain. Now, a new detail: Watch below as one of the lawyers claims that a shot entered the very top of Brown’s head, traveled downward, and exited through his right eye socket. How does that happen to a man who’s 6’4″?

And more importantly, when did it happen? The head shot was obviously a kill shot, which is a problem given that all three eyewitnesses seem to agree that Brown was facing Wilson when the last shots were fired. Plus, the angle of the shot is strange regardless of Brown’s position. How often is a victim (especially a tall one) hit in the apex of his head by a shot fired at street level? I can think of two semi-plausible scenarios. One: Brown is hit by a flurry of bullets in the chest and arm, spins around from the force of the blow, and throws his head back in pain as he starts to drop. The crown of his head would have been facing Wilson for a split second with his eyes momentarily higher than the crown; a shot fired from that angle might have actually traveled upward in passing through the crown and out his eye. The problem, though, is that none of the eyewitnesses report Brown spinning around or facing away from Wilson at the end. In fact, if I understand the dialogue on that eyewitness video correctly, Brown’s body ended up facing where Wilson’s police car was when it happened.

The second, more plausible scenario: After Brown was hit by a flurry in his arm and chest, he remained facing Wilson but began to buckle. His head drooped as he stumbled forward, with the crown suddenly in the line of fire as Wilson shot repeatedly. Everything depends on precise movements here, obviously, but you can imagine how a bullet that actually came from the front might produce a wound suggesting that it had been fired from the back because of the contortion of Brown’s body as it reacted to massive trauma. In fact, something like that is what Baden himself had in mind:

“This one here looks like his head was bent downward,” he said, indicating the wound at the very top of Mr. Brown’s head. “It can be because he’s giving up, or because he’s charging forward at the officer.”

He was facing forward, not backward, even though the wound superficially appears back-to-front. Why the lawyer is nonetheless pushing the “back-to-front” theory when even the family’s independent examiner isn’t adopting it I leave for you to judge.

By the way, according to a source who spoke to WaPo, Brown had marijuana in his system when he died. No word yet on how much. The alleged friend of Wilson’s who spoke to Dana Loesch last week claims Wilson thought Brown was “on something” when he supposedly “bumrushed him,” but that phrase when used to describe a suspect’s aggressive behavior usually means heavier drugs — PCP or meth, something more prone to make a man manic. Oh well. I guess there’s no avoiding a “reefer madness” theory in some quarters now.

Breaking on Hot Air

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

When 1/1000 of the effort that is being put into this single event is brought to Chicago (or any other democrat run city), I will know that the black community is concerned over black young men being shot and killed.

By the way, according to a source who spoke to WaPo, Brown had marijuana in his system when he died. No word yet on how much. The alleged friend of Wilson’s who spoke to Dana Loesch last week claims Wilson thought Brown was “on something” when he supposedly “bumrushed him,” but that phrase when used to describe a suspect’s aggressive behavior usually means heavier drugs — PCP or meth, something more prone to make a man manic. Oh well. I guess there’s no avoiding a “reefer madness” theory in some quarters now.

Well hey, marijuana legalization advocates are always telling us how harmless it is. If he had marijuana in his system, then by that logic he was making level-headed, clear-thinking decisions. Three cheers for self-control and the absence of distorted perception!

Nope, this family is going for the monah….. like Trademark Trayvon’s Mommy.. They are polluting any jury pool for a civil and criminal suit, so they are making a case for a back shot even though there is absolutely NO evidence to that shows that there was a back shot. I mean the are contradicting their own fricking doctor.

Well hey, marijuana legalization advocates are always telling us how harmless it is. If he had marijuana in his system, then by that logic he was making level-headed, clear-thinking decisions. Three cheers for self-control and the absence of distorted perception!

Stoic Patriot on August 18, 2014 at 1:28 PM

I don’t care either way whether or not marijuana is legalized, but marijuana is a downer and as such more often than not makes the user docile. If he was on anything it was more likely PCP which would fit with the cigar stealing.

Why the lawyer is nonetheless pushing the “back-to-front” theory when even the family’s independent examiner isn’t adopting it I leave for you to judge.

Please. They’ll say whatever they need to say to advance their myth, regardless of the evidence. (They’ll even contradict their own hand-picked M.E.) And the myth is that “gentle” Mike was innocently walking along, minding his own business, when an evil white cop, for no reason other than that gentle Mike was black, shot him in the back, and then executed gentle Mike while he was on his knees begging for his life.

Is the exit wound of the head shot the reason why the exact count of wounds isn’t nailed down yet? is one thinking the eye socket wound is an exit and another it’s an entrance? I really see no way shot could have exited through his eye from a wound in the top of the head from a shot at street level.

The second, more plausible scenario: After Brown was hit by a flurry in his arm and chest, he remained facing Wilson but began to buckle. His head drooped as he stumbled forward, with the crown suddenly in the line of fire as Wilson shot repeatedly

I can believe this but that shot would not exit through the eye socket.

When 1/1000 of the effort that is being put into this single event is brought to Chicago (or any other democrat run city), I will know that the black community is concerned over black young men being shot and killed.

jukin3 on August 18, 2014 at 1:27 PM

Cops shot an unarmed white man in Dallas.. No white rioting to be seen..

Well hey, marijuana legalization advocates are always telling us how harmless it is. If he had marijuana in his system, then by that logic he was making level-headed, clear-thinking decisions. Three cheers for self-control and the absence of distorted perception!

Stoic Patriot on August 18, 2014 at 1:28 PM

Of course he was intoxicated with drugs or else he would not had kept charging the police officer even after being shot multiple times…

My sister and BIL both have extensive experience with someone “only” high on pot who was extremely aggressive – punching, throwing people down to the floor, etc. Today’s pot is MUCH stronger than the stuff we did back in the 70s-80s. It’s often hydroponically grown, thus concentrating the THC, not to mention who knows what stuff is mixed with it. I do not doubt that he could have been on pot and also act aggressively. I’ve seen the results.

He was facing forward, not backward, even though the wound superficially appears back-to-front. Why the lawyer is nonetheless pushing the “back-to-front” theory when even the family’s independent examiner isn’t adopting it I leave for you to judge.

Dead Pecker of HA believes Dr. Baden, but lies, saying that Dr. Baden claimed that the shot came from behind.

This means I don’t have to worry about my health plan being cancelled Nov 30, illegal aliens bringing disease to my kids’ school, Ebola in the US because we won’t halt flights from affected African nations, IRS up my a__s, Christian genocide in Iraq and Syria, out-of-control debt, non-stop increases in my food and energy bills….

No doubt the officer will provide a narrative that provides room for at least reasonable doubt of any wrong-doing on his part. But don’t expect it to come out for our convenience. More likely, the PD will provide some narrative, but whether or not it will be informed by the officer’s story is hard to say. I think all of you lawyers would agree that the smartest thing the officer can do is to keep his mouth shut and let his lawyers do the talking for him. He is not likely to avoid prosecution in this environment, and anything he says will be used to bury him.

I honestly don’t know if the officer was justified or whether he used unnecessary force, but I do know that my indignation around this case dialed down to about a one on a ten scale when I found out that Brown was a thug. Too many good people facing injustice for us to be worrying about what happened to a thug.

Nope, this family is going for the monah….. like Trademark Trayvon’s Mommy.. They are polluting any jury pool for a civil and criminal suit, so they are making a case for a back shot even though there is absolutely NO evidence to that shows that there was a back shot. I mean the are contradicting their own fricking doctor.

melle1228 on August 18, 2014 at 1:29 PM

This is true. Notice now the mantra is Wilson needs to be “arrested” in order to have justice. There can be nw civil case without an arrest. I mean there can but it’s hard to make any ground without it. Once they have the arrest then the town can quickly settle.

I honestly don’t know if the officer was justified or whether he used unnecessary force, but I do know that my indignation around this case dialed down to about a one on a ten scale when I found out that Brown was a thug. Too many good people facing injustice for us to be worrying about what happened to a thug.

People that automatically dismiss “reefer madness” are ignorant or lying about the effects of marijuana. Ask someone who’s tried pot what it does and they’ll tell you “it made me sleepy” or “it made me paranoid”. Those are two opposed states of being. I knew a girl who’d smoke and clean the house. Not sit on her butt and laugh. I used to get what I called “highper”. Ever hear the song la Cucharacha? Why is the cockroach so slow and lazy? Because he does not have, because he lacks any marijuana to smoke.

I’ve got to wonder how much forensic evidence was collected at the time of the incident. If there are missed shots, were the rounds located and documented? Angle of fire? Were the cigars he stole in his possession? Etc. If this evidence was not collected or done poorly it will not conclusively determine certain aspects key to the Brown familiy’s assertion that this was an execution.

And BTW- Isn’t it amazing that normally in black neighborhoods the cops can’t find anybody who saw anything. But not in this case!

I don’t care either way whether or not marijuana is legalized, but marijuana is a downer and as such more often than not makes the user docile. If he was on anything it was more likely PCP which would fit with the cigar stealing.

melle1228 on August 18, 2014 at 1:31 PM

Alcohol is also a downer, which is why nobody ever drinks and then does something violent.

The mountains of silly speculation in this post is when you’re at your worst, AP. All shots that struck Brown struck him while he was facing forward. That is fairly conclusive at this point. But if you’re going to do silly speculating why not point out the most obvious possibility for the type of wound the attorney is describing. A head down charge at Wilson?

Why the lawyer is nonetheless pushing the “back-to-front” theory when even the family’s independent examiner isn’t adopting it I leave for you to judge.

Dorian Johnson claims Brown was hit from behind before turning and putting his hands up, an eyewitness who live-tweeted the shooting claims that two shots were fired at his back before Brown turned to face Darren Wilson and was then fired at repeatedly, and a third eyewitness captured on audio claims that Brown initially ran away from Wilson before coming back at him.
– Allah

Just to add to the pile of theories…
It’s certainly plausible that following the initial shots, Brown was in a severely wounded and severely incoherent state. Perhaps he was just confused and moving back towards the officer. And then the officer, in what must’ve been a chaotic and adrenalin fueled few seconds, interpreted this as threatening and chose to fire his weapon again.

MJ is a depressant, not a stimulant. However, that fact alone is enough to warrant his execution in the minds of most of the 65+ crowd here on HA. Now if he had been on pain pills suh as Oxy, (legal heroin like Rush Limbaugh), that would have been acceptable.

They make the mistake of conflating criminal offenses or violations of legal code, (except when they favor it ala Clive Bundy), with crimes against God. Thus in their mind this guy is a sinner, and since sinners go to Hell it is perfectly acceptable for the cop to kill him.

I just searched now, and funny enough if disappeared. But if you can find the original pictures of the “memorial” to the kid in the middle of the street, you will find blunts (swishers), liquor bottles, and then some kind of fruit drink next to a cough medicine bottle. Presumably left by his buddies.

So we’ll see when the full toxicology report comes out if he was chugging cough syrup that day or not. Like pot, cough syrup should not make someone violent. However, I have heard that taken in large enough quantities, people can hallucinate from DXM if he was taking OTC cough medicine and not the prescription stuff.

The contortions the guy giving the presser went through to try to explain how really, one of the bullets could have been fired at his back would be funny if it weren’t fanning the flames of racial unrest.

It’s their drawing, not the official autopsy drawing. If they thought the shots came from the back, why did they draw them all on the front?

Here we have a 6′ 4″ 300 pound football player that only 10 minutes before had robbed a convenience store with just his bare hands. And the guy seemed to be nuts and very probably manic or on drugs, and this consideration apparently plays no role in the minds of violent rioting looters. This massive nut is what the cop was up against, a cop that apparently has an exemplary record. Sure, it conceivably that the the cop just shot Brown when Brown had his hands up and was on his knees… shot him seven times. Yeah, like the decorated cop wouldn’t even be thinking about his future as a cop and a free man. There’s no indication of such erratic behavior in the cop’s past. Anything is possible, but that is *highly* unlikely. But look at Sharpton and Jackson and Holder and all the rest holding to that crazy theory that the cop went insane, when it was obvious that Brown was already acting insane.

And BTW- Isn’t it amazing that normally in black neighborhoods the cops can’t find anybody who saw anything. But not in this case!

Happy Nomad on August 18, 2014 at 1:39 PM

Yes, and in this case, not only did many witnesses come forward to tell what they saw, but the majority of them reported seeing things that didn’t even happen (like Mike Brown getting shot in the back).

When 1/1000 of the effort that is being put into this single event is brought to Chicago (or any other democrat run city), I will know that the black community is concerned over black young men being shot and killed.

jukin3 on August 18, 2014 at 1:27 PM

The black community destroys themselves from with in. The only time they band together is when whitey and social justice comes into play.

If not a long half life…holder can take his time and he would not find any

Just sayin

cmsinaz on August 18, 2014 at 1:42 PM

Depending on a lot of factors, pot can stay in your system 30+ days from when ingested. Marijuana is stored in fat cells, so for someone the size of the 300 pound baby, maybe even longer.

I don’t think the marijuana means anything to this case. If they can prove he was high at the time, it might mean his reaction time was slowed, but there is no reason to believe pot would make him more violent.

I’m seriously tired of this. Presumably there will eventually be a trial, and we’ll get the real story then. Until then, I wish they’d all just stop with their efforts to try this case in the court of public opinion.

MJ is a depressant, not a stimulant. However, that fact alone is enough to warrant his execution in the minds of most of the 65+ crowd here on HA. Now if he had been on pain pills suh as Oxy, (legal heroin like Rush Limbaugh), that would have been acceptable.

They make the mistake of conflating criminal offenses or violations of legal code, (except when they favor it ala Clive Bundy), with crimes against God. Thus in their mind this guy is a sinner, and since sinners go to Hell it is perfectly acceptable for the cop to kill him.

I don’t think the marijuana means anything to this case. If they can prove he was high at the time, it might mean his reaction time was slowed, but there is no reason to believe pot would make him more violent.

His head drooped as he stumbled forward, with the crown suddenly in the line of fire as Wilson shot repeatedly. Everything depends on precise movements here, obviously, but you can imagine how a bullet that actually came from the front might produce a wound suggesting that it had been fired from the back because of the contortion of Brown’s body as it reacted to massive trauma.

How about something much simpler? Brown charged/bumrushed the officer, taking several hits in the process until one finally buckled him close to the officer. But, as Brown is still charging the officer and closing, the officer continues to fire, the last shot hitting Brown as he is falling forward within a few yards of the officer. Downward trajectory, in line with top of the head, exit wound in face,q.e.d.

To me, it is all spitballing at this point, I wasn’t there. The eyewitnesses are sketchy at best, and clearly biased beyond any reasonable doubt. And nobody has heard word one from the officer involved yet. But, both sides are already trying the case in the public courtroom. To be expected, of course, but when the Federal Justice Dept is already putting its thumb on the scales, I’d say the officer in question is already screwed.

I’m seriously tired of this. Presumably there will eventually be a trial, and we’ll get the real story then. Until then, I wish they’d all just stop with their efforts to try this case in the court of public opinion.

Syzygy on August 18, 2014 at 1:46 PM

And it will be followed by more insanity, more looting, more violence, more racists openly demagoguing the situation, and more sycophantic nonsense on the part of people and journalists who ought to f*cking know better.

MJ is a depressant, not a stimulant. However, that fact alone is enough to warrant his execution in the minds of most of the 65+ crowd here on HA. Now if he had been on pain pills suh as Oxy, (legal heroin like Rush Limbaugh), that would have been acceptable.

They make the mistake of conflating criminal offenses or violations of legal code, (except when they favor it ala Clive Bundy), with crimes against God. Thus in their mind this guy is a sinner, and since sinners go to Hell it is perfectly acceptable for the cop to kill him.

antisense on August 18, 2014 at 1:43 PM

So why was Brown choking the store clerk?

Why did the exchange student in Colorado junp of the building after eating one pot cookie?

Why did that guy in Colorado shoot his wife after one pot candy?

Maybe pot has different effects on different people,no?

Are you saying that cops should not be permitted to defend themselves with weapons when attacked by someone twice their size?

If Brown had gone through as many contortions during the shooting as some defenders of the police are going through in justifying his death he could have taken a slug up his rectum and had it exit through his left nipple – sideways…

Yes, and in this case, not only did many witnesses come forward to tell what they saw, but the majority of them reported seeing things that didn’t even happen (like Mike Brown getting shot in the back).

AZCoyote on August 18, 2014 at 1:44 PM

I’m sure the Brown family lawyers and/or DoJ will have their choice of witnesses should this come to trial.

When 1/1000 of the effort that is being put into this single event is brought to Chicago (or any other democrat run city), I will know that the black community is concerned over black young men being shot and killed.

jukin3 on August 18, 2014 at 1:27 PM

It reminds me of the Golda Meir quote, 1957:
“Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us. ”

Black teens kill thousands of other black teens a year, but when in the course of their duties to uphold the law which protects all of us a white cop shoots a black kid, THEN they (the black community) get concerned. Why are they more concerned with a white cop killing a black teen than black teens killing thousands of black teens. It makes one wonder.